Even though Alley’s is regionally focused, anyone with an interest in the animal will find it outstanding reading. And Meldrum’s may be the last scientific word, until the animal is confirmed and study really gets under way.

But something for all of us to think about:

It’s a little hard to come up with the ultimate library on something we don’t even really know about. Heck, people are going to go on for hours about the “ultimate” bird or animal-track book – and all that’s in any of them is stuff we know!

When we know what the sasquatch is, you can bet that the list will change.

Fast.

(Besides, it’s a GREAT written book. Even better the second time around. )

I respect your list and your insights, Loren. I was just curious.

I am ending my input about a book I didn’t pick.

The last thing I’m going to do today is get into a debate about that book…with DWA! I hope I answered Shane’s question, with regard to my view, which, is only my view.

I think a lot of the books above take too sensationalized an approach to the sasquatch, and tend to minimize that the weight of the evidence shows we are dealing with wildlife here, not monsters. (Obviously Meldrum’s and Shackley’s and Bindernagel’s stand out as exceptions.)

You may have to wade some to find it, but Pyle’s insights about the biological feasibility of the sasquatch tend to get left out of many of the ones on that list. And such insights are essential to getting science interested.

But, since this one keeps coming up, here are my conscious reasons for excluding Pyle’s book even from my “Honorable Mentions.”

Although it is a beautifully written book, the list is not just about works with poetic prose and great narrative word pictures. It is a list about Bigfoot books.

I respectfully submit that Pyle’s tome, in large part, is not about Sasquatch/Bigfoot, but is a long, boring text on his personalized insights during a lengthy nature hike around Washington State, among the butterflies, other trekkers, and trees. Frankly, I have to agree with what one reviewer once said about it: This is not a book about Bigfoot; this is a book about where Bigfoot walks.

Pyle is honest about his topic in his title. I find people giving this book much more credit and attention in hominology than it deserves. It does not further research of Bigfoot or enhance a better understanding of Sasquatch.

I’m really curious as to why it would be excluded.

I often look into Japanese publications hoping to find hidden gems, so this is an interesting area for me.

Even the publisher acknowledges this: “Harford County, Maryland, naturalist Bob Chance presents highlights from his long-running newspaper column, Earthline. Compelling stories about wildlife, ecology, conservation, and local history are told from the perspective of a teacher and environmentalist who cares deeply about his planet.”

It is extremely personalized and does not fulfill the more global requirements to be seen as a book adding to the overall knowledge about Bigfoot/Sasquatch.